The NBA draft is tomorrow night starting at 6:30 pm CT.  It will be
broadcast on TV on TNT and locally on radio on 570 am.  The Mavs are
hosting a private draft party for season ticket holders and invited
guests.  You have to have an invitation to attend.  Dallas [currently]
has the #6, #30, #35, and #53 draft picks.  I'd be surprised if they kept
all 3 2nd round picks.
 
Dallas is known to have had 4 players in for workouts for the #6 pick.
The players are Larry Hughes (Saint Louis), Vince Carter (UNC), Antwan
Jamison (UNC), and Raef LaFrentz (Kansas).  The rumors were that the Mavs
were really high on Hughes (currently a shooting guard or small forward,
but may develop into a point guard), but that his stock has risen and will
possibly be gone by #6.  Though Carter is similar to Michael Finley, the
Mavs seem to not have a problem with the similarities and would be happy
with him.  When asked about concerns about having two Finleys, Don Nelson
replied "that's not a bad thing" and Donnie Nelson said he found the idea
of having Carter and Finley "exciting".  The more I've read and heard
about Jamison, the more I like him.  Though he was a power forward in
college (he's undersized to play 4 in the NBA), he seems to have the
attitude and worker's mentality to successfully switch to small forward.
His success and awards won in college looks highly likely to translate
into a successful NBA career.  Don Nelson said that they were very
impressed with Jamison both as a player (with some concern as to his size)
and as a person and that he would fit in perfectly with the personality of
this team.  I have heard very little talk about LaFrentz, a power forward.
The little I've read about him says that he would not fit in with this
team.  I'd be very surprised if the Mavs drafted him.
 
Mike Bibby (Arizona), Michael Olowokandi (Pacific), and Paul Pierce
(Kansas) are expected to go #1, 2, and 3 in the draft.  2 of Hughes,
Carter, Jamison, and LaFrentz will likely go #4 and 5 - leaving the Mavs
to likely pick from the remaining two players of the 4 the Mavs brought in
for workouts.  Of course, the Mavs could select someone else (rumors are
surrounding Dirk Nowitzki), but I doubt that will occur.  If Nowitzki
slides say past the 12th pick, I could highly see the Mavs trading the 2nd
round picks to move up to get him (he shockingly fell to #18 in Chuck
Cooperstein's mock draft last night - picks were made by media people in
the NBA towns).  However, taking him at #6 with Hughes, Carter, or Jamison
still available doesn't seem likely to me.  The #30 and #35 picks are very
valuable with the glut of reasonably good players (draft guru Marty Blake
just said on the radio that there is not much difference between a #20
pick and a #30 pick) and teams are showing a lot of interest in trading
for those picks.  Remember, first round picks have to be signed to 3 year
guaranteed contracts - and some teams, especially contenders (see Chicago
not signing their last two first rounders), don't like being saddled with
that contract.
 
I heard Don Nelson on the radio this morning (Tuesday) for about 40
minutes.  All I can say is, man, you can't believe a word he says this
time of year.  The only true sense I got out of the conversation was that
the Mavs will not be selecting Tractor Traylor.  Nelson seemed surprise
about all the Dirk Nowitzki questions he was receiving at the start of the
conversation - he was unaware of the Dallas Morning News article in
Tuesday's paper about how Nelson really wants Nowitzki.  He gave ambiguous
and/or truthful with a twist answers to questions about Nowitzki.  When
asked about Nowitzki's agent (the question was with the agent's name and
without clarification as to who it was), Nelson said he didn't know who
that was.  Nelson also said he had never met Nowitzki.  Of course, Donnie
Nelson has met and even coached Nowitzki and it is more likely that Donnie
at least tried to talk with Nowitzki's agent.  Don Nelson briefly talked
about Carter and Jamison, saying that the Mavs liked them.  A lot of the
talk was about specific players names, who would go later in the draft,
thrown at Nelson.  I think that Nelson replied to every one of them that
they would go late in the first round - before #30.  Basically, the sense
was that no one has a firm idea what's going to happen after the first 8
or so picks and no one has a clue who is going to go where after the 15th
or so pick.
 
Talk about Traylor, who Nelson somewhat jokingly said "is a player to keep
an eye on", led to Nellie stories about his failed attempts with
overweight players.  One of the funny ones was about John "Hot Plate"
Williams.  Nelson had Hot Plate in for an interview, looking to sign him.
They went to a nice restaurant and Hot Plate said he had his head on
straight and his weight under control.  He had a salad for dinner.  The
interview went well and Nelson said they were going to sign him.  Hot
Plate and his girlfriend went back to the hotel.  The next morning Nelson
went to the hotel to pay the bill and Hot Plate and his girlfriend had
cleaned out the candy and liquor bar.  Needless to say, Nelson did not
sign him.
 
 
Other (and older) Mavs news
 
There is a rumor floating around that the Mavs will not re-sign Cedric
Ceballos.  Reportedly, Ceballos is asking for a big money, long term
contract and the Mavs are offering a medium money, short term contract.
This rumor could just be a negotiating ploy by one or both parties, but it
is not sounding good for re-signing Ceballos.
 
The Mavs (smartly) announced that ticket prices will not increase for
1998-99.
 
David Schwarz was selected to design the new arena for the Mavs and Dallas
Stars (hockey).  Schwarz submitted the most traditional designs and
designed the Ballpark in Arlington and Fort Worth's Bass Performance Hall.


patricia